Split, Croatia

We had quite a long trip to Split. When planning our trip, flying out of JFK was the cheapest and quickest route. We often fly out of JFK because of these reasons. Taking a bus from Maryland up to NYC has never been an issue, and it's a lot cheaper than flying or taking a train. Megabus really let us down this time. For some reason, all of their buses were running 2 hours late. We luckily had booked an early bus for this reason, but it was still stressful. Coupled with the rain, cold 50 degree temperatures, and the wind, it made waiting (for over 2 hours!) for the bus to arrive miserable. We've usually used Boltbus for our travel to NYC, but Megabus runs throughout the night, which is what we need for our trip back home. I think from now on we're going to stick with Boltbus if at all possible.

Our camper rental company picked us up at the airport and drove us in our camper to our first camp site. After a quick orientation by him, we tried to sleep...tried. That's what happens when your body thinks it's 6 pm, but it's actually midnight. We eventually did fall asleep and slept fairly well luckily.

Stobre? beach

Morning rolled around, and we went to the campsite market to get breakfast. 2 giant pastries, 2 nectarines, and 1 liter of peach nectar cost a whopping $3.85. After living in the expensive DC area for so long, we can definitely get used to these prices.

We hopped on a bus to head into Split; the campsite is in Stobre?, which is about 15 minutes away. The bus ride cost a total of 26 kuna, which equals $3.82 for both of us. Maybe you can learn something from that, WMATA...

Once in Split, we clearly had to find the best ranked restaurant in Split and eat there. Immediately. We hadn't had a proper meal in around 48 hours, so we were happy to try it out. According to TripAdviser, Konoba Matejuška is the best restaurant in Split. It certainly did not disappoint. This hole in the wall place is a block or two off the main promenade in Split. We ordered grapa, a shot of liquor taken before dinner, and the fresh fish platter for two. It came with a salad and bread, and all of it was fantastic. The fish was caught the night before, so you can imagine how good it was. We would definitely recommend Konoba Matejuška to anyone heading to Split.

Fresh fish platter from Konoba Matejuška

We were extremely excited to visit Diocletian's Palace, a Roman complex that was built between the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. A.D. Emperor Diocletian gave up his throne and retired to this giant complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's a total of 30,000 square meters (about 323,000 square feet), and 3,000 people live within it today. During Diocletian's time, the sea came right up to the south wall. He preferred to ride his ship all the way through the palace gates and into the lowest tier of the palace so that he did not have to leave his ship to enter the palace. The sea has receded since then.

Split, Croatia, from the bell tower at Diocletian's Palace

I can't explain to you how much I fell in love with this palace complex. 1700 years after it was built, people are still living and working there. I can imagine the recent surge in Croatian's tourism industry is probably obnoxious if you live in the palace, but it does leave those tourists feeling like they've just visited a magical place. It was incredible to visit the Temple of Jupiter and turn around to see a balcony filled with potted plants and clothes hanging out to dry. It is a truly planned Roman complex with a cardo and decamanus (main streets typically found in Roman city planning), but the lesser streets narrow and cut back and forth in quite a surreal way - it's honestly what you would imagine in an old Roman city. Absolutely incredible, and I simply could not take enough photos of this picturesque utopia.

Tunnels and streets in Split, Croatia

Tunnels and streets in Split, Croatia

Houses in Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia

Tunnels and streets of Split, Croatia

We climbed up to the top of the Cathedral of St. Domnius. And for all the things I have climbed in my life (like the gigantic and not entirely safe Sigiriya in Sri Lanka), this 60 meter (197 feet) climb scared the poop out of me. I was shaking like a leaf while Justin looked at me like I was insane. I couldn't allow myself to quit on the way up, so we climbed to the top. Those rickety metal stairs held up for us thankfully, and the view of the palace from above and the rest of Split was absolutely worth the 15 kuna ($2.20) each. Frankly I'm not sure what freaked me out about that climb because it's certainly not the most terrifying thing I've done, and I am glad I continued to the top. The bell tower was started in the beginning of the 13th century, and building lasted more than 300 years. It was restored between 1890-1906. It was such an interesting dichotomy to see the ancient palace flanked by concrete high rise buildings and humongous cruise ships in the harbor. We also visited the octagonal cathedral (formerly Diocletian 's mausoleum) and the crypt below, both of which were architecturally interesting.

Bell tower and Cathedral of Saint Domnius

Bell tower climb

Bell tower from the plaza

Tight spots while climbing the bell tower at Diocletian's Palace

The Temple of Jupiter was built around the 3rd century AD, the same time as the palace itself. This temple is supposed to be one of the best preserved in the world. Jupiter was Diocletian's father, and Diocletian thought himself to be the reincarnation of the god Jupiter. He positioned the temple directly across from his mausoleum, which is now the cathedral. During the Middle Ages, the temple was converted into Saint John's Baptistry, and the 12th century baptismal font is still located in the center of the temple. The remains from Bishop John from the 8th century and Bishop Lawrence from the 11th century lie in the back flanking a statue of Saint John. A Roman sarcophagus and giant headless graphite Sphinx from Luxor flank the entrance. Oddly enough, the temple is located on Split's narrowest street Pusti me pro?, which means "let me through".

Temple of Jupiter interior

Entrance to the Temple of Jupiter

We meandered through the ancient streets for the rest of the day. One could certainly get lost in those streets if not for the occasional chiming of the bells in the tower to guide you. There were so many tourists there at this time of year (which is considered shoulder season for tourism), and I could not imagine how packed it would be in the height of the summer. I'm already glad that we're doing this trip in October instead of high season in the summer. Justin and I spent the day swooning over the architectural details.

Detail at handrail connection

Handrail connection at stair

Door to the Ethnographic Museum entrance

Dome in Cathedral of Saint Domnius

Gorgeous stonework at Diocletian's Palace

We headed back out to the promenade in front of the palace to enjoy the sunset, to people watch, and to experience the giant cruise liners spit out enormous low rumbling honks and back out of the harbor. If we hadn't been so full from our lunch and gelato from earlier in the day, it would've been a perfect moment for even more gelato. Because truly, can one ever eat too much gelato?

View from the pier in Split. AKA heaven.

Once back in Stobre?, we headed to Stuja for a traditional Split dinner of octopus salad and pašticada (beef in gravy), which is what our camper rental representative had suggested to us. Both were great recommendations! We also had Dalmation smoked ham and a tuna pizza, all of which was delicious. It cost a total of $34 for all of that, and we took more than half the pizza back to the RV with us. Having that pizza was helpful for our crapshoot that was Bosnia & Herzegovina the next day...